Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of animatronics and, in particular, to a system and method for computer graphics modeling to clone physical faces.
Description of the Related Art
Generally, the field of animatronics aims to create physical robotic characters that move and look like real humans. Because the human body consists of articulated rigid structures (i.e., bones) and soft tissue (i.e., flesh and skin), conventional approaches have used a rigid articulated base and synthetic soft-tissue to create animatronic characters. Characters created with this approach have enjoyed wide success at amusement parks, theme parks, and exhibitions.
However, creating animatronic figures remains a difficult and labor-intensive process that requires a significant amount of manual work of skilled animators, material designers, and mechanical engineers. The physical constraints of real materials and actuators, in addition to virtual modeling of a human character, must be addressed to create a life-like animatronic character. Further, the human face is regarded as the most challenging part of creating an animatronic character, owing to the face's expressive power and to the limitations in the process of skin design. An animatronic character has to be able to produce a vast range of facial expressions, each having different folds and wrinkles. Manually designing the shape and material properties of a single skin that is able to achieve suitable expression is a formidable task.
As the foregoing illustrates, there is a need in the art for an improved technique for designing and fabricating an animatronic face that closely resembles a given human subject.